still from The Night of the Hunter, 1955

Last night I went out to the McCarren Park pool for the Tuesday night Summerscreen to watch the Charles Laughton film The Night of the Hunter, a classic from 1955 with a tag line that reads, “The wedding night, the anticipation, the kiss, the knife, BUT ABOVE ALL… THE SUSPENSE!”

As you might guess, it was pretty campy — but, admittedly, suspenseful for its day.

Harry Powell (Robert Mitchum) marries and murders widows for their money, believing he is helping God do away with women who arouse men’s carnal instincts. Arrested for auto theft, he shares a cell with condemned killer Ben Harper (Peter Graves) and tries to get him to reveal the whereabouts of the $10,000 he stole. Only Ben’s nine-year-old son, John and four-year-old daughter, Pearl know the money is in Pearl’s doll and they have sworn to their father to keep this secret. After Ben is executed, Preacher goes to Cresap’s Landing to court Ben’s widow, Willa (Shelley Winters). He overwhelms her with his Scripture quoting, sermons and hymns, and she agrees to marry him. On their wedding night he tells her they will never have sex because it is sinful. When the depressed, confused, guilty woman catches him trying to force Pearl to reveal the whereabouts of the money, she is resigned to her fate but the children manage to escape downriver, with Preacher following close behind.

The reason I bring the film up, other than the fact that I thoroughly enjoyed finally seeing it in it’s entirety, is that it’s influence on Gregory Crewdson (a subject of discussion in my previous post) is clearly evident. As far as I am aware, Crewdson acknowledges this influence — the cinematography of Stanley Cortez.

In the establishing shots of the film alone, one can see the ways in which the arrangement of figures within the neighborhood may have transcended itself into some of Crewdson’s images. Or in the moments of contemplation and alienation, lone subjects in light. Looking closer at Crewdson’s work, I can notice bits of The Night of the Hunter seeping out from behind the color tableaus. Unfortunately I couldn’t find any decent stills of the establishing shots from the film online, but these should hold you off until you see the film:

still from The Night of the Hunter, 1955

stills from The Night of the Hunter, 1955

If you can’t see it in those, watch the trailer for a bit more.

I’m not sure how this might contribute to the discussion on the “utility” of such photographs, but it’s very interesting to see a bit of the inspirational imagery for an artist who is making plenty of these fictionalized moments in the same way that actual film sets function.

UPDATE: I’ve found a clip online of the famous river scene here and another short scene here. Plus, this movie with lots more stills here.

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